OBJECTIVETo evaluate the major causes of death and risk factors among male steelworkers in Beijing.

METHODSThe study included 5137 men from the cohort of Beijing Capital Steel and Iron Company. The baseline survey was performed in 1974, 1979 and 1980 and the final follow-up evaluation was made in 2001 with a mean follow-up of 20.8 years. Causes of death were coded according to the Ninth Revision of International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). The mortality was calculated by person-years of follow-up and age-standardized according to the 2000 census data in China. Cox proportional-hazards models adjusting for risk factors were used to estimate the relative risk of death.

RESULTSThere is 760 deaths during follow-up. Age-standardized mortality from all causes was 643.0 per 100,000 person-years. The three leading causes of death were malignant neoplasms (mortality, 231.3 per 100,000 person-years), cerebrovascular diseases (mortality, 139.3 per 100,000 person-years) and heart diseases (mortality, 96.4 per 100,000 person-years). The multivariate-adjusted relative risk of death and the population attributable risk proportion for risk factors were as follow: cigarette smoking (95% CI, 1.174 to 1.765); hypertension (95% CI, 1.370 to 1.904) and hypercholesterolemia (95% CI, 1.057 to 1.537).

CONCLUSIONSOur study indicates that malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular diseases and heart diseases were major causes of death among male steelworkers. Furthermore, cigarette smoking, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia are leading preventable risk factors for death.